"stadium of Lillehammer by a ski jumper. In Beijing 2008, Li Ning ""ran"" on air around the Bird's Nest and lit the flame. In Vancouver 2010, four athletes—Catriona Le May Doan, Wayne Gretzky, Steve Nash and Nancy Greene—were given the honour of lighting the flame simultaneously indoors before Wayne Gretzky transferred the flame to an outdoor cauldron at Vancouver's waterfront. Other famous last bearers of the torch include heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali (1996), Australian aboriginal runner Cathy Freeman (2000), Brazilian marathon runner Vanderlei de Lima (2016), and South Korean figure skater Yuna Kim (2018). On other occasions, the people"
"Olympic Hymn was sung in Greek by the Millennium Choir of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia. The opening ceremony concluded with the lighting of the Olympic Flame. Tina Arena and the Sydney Children's Choir performed The Flame before former Australian Olympic champion Herb Elliott brought the Olympic flame into the stadium. Then, celebrating 100 years of women's participation in the Olympic Games, former Australian women Olympic champions and medalists: Betty Cuthbert and Raelene Boyle, Dawn Fraser, Shirley Strickland de la Hunty, Shane Gould and Debbie Flintoff-King brought the torch through the stadium, handing it over to Cathy Freeman. Freeman"
"united for the first time in nearly a century, and a wave of emotion swept the stadium, but nothing compared to the roar that greeted the Australian team. Herb Elliot, 1,500m gold medallist at Rome, ran with the torch into Stadium Australia and handed it to Betty Cuthbert, whose wheelchair was pushed by Raelene Boyle. Dawn Fraser, Shirley Strickland de la Hunty, Shane Gould and Debbie Flintoff-King then carried the flame in tribute to 100 years of women's participation in the Olympics. Finally the Torch was handed to Cathy Freeman, Australia's favourite who was given the honour of lighting the"
"Robyn Perry Robyn Ainsworth (born Robyn Perry in 1975) was a 12-year-old schoolgirl and figure skater who lit the Olympic Flame in the opening ceremony for the 1988 Winter Olympics. On Feb. 13, 1988, she was the final runner in the Olympic torch relay and was chosen to ignite the giant cauldron at McMahon Stadium, kicking off the Calgary Winter Olympics. Downhill skier Ken Read and speed skater Cathy Priestner handed off the torch to her. During the ascent, Perry had to yell to one of the athletes to get out of her way. In an interview with the 2010"
"Winter Olympics website, Perry stated that she had many amazing experiences because of this. Perry now directs ""We Care Home Health Services"" in North Calgary. Robyn Perry Robyn Ainsworth (born Robyn Perry in 1975) was a 12-year-old schoolgirl and figure skater who lit the Olympic Flame in the opening ceremony for the 1988 Winter Olympics. On Feb. 13, 1988, she was the final runner in the Olympic torch relay and was chosen to ignite the giant cauldron at McMahon Stadium, kicking off the Calgary Winter Olympics. Downhill skier Ken Read and speed skater Cathy Priestner handed off the torch to"
"appearance of the flame being carried away into the sky, flying in a northeasterly direction out across Sydney Harbour and ultimately towards Athens in a symbolic handover. In honour of her gold medal win during the games, Cathy Freeman represented Oceania in carrying the Olympic flag, joining Archbishop Desmond Tutu (Africa), John Glenn (The Americas), Kazuyoshi Funaki (Asia), Lech Wałęsa (Europe), Jean-Michel Cousteau (Environment), Jean-Claude Killy (Sport), and Steven Spielberg (Culture) when it was raised again, at the XIX Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City; the opening ceremony there took place on 8 February 2002. The 2000 Summer Olympic"
"hand of Alberto Tomba, who then passed the flame to the hands of the 1994 men's Italian cross-country skiing relay team (Marco Albarello, Giorgio Vanzetta, Maurilio De Zolt, and Silvio Fauner). The flame was then passed to Piero Gros, then Deborah Compagnoni before the Olympic Flame was lit by former Italian cross-country skier Stefania Belmondo. Belmondo paused to show the torch to the cheering crowd one last time before placing it on the arched lighting apparatus. The flame initiated a series of fireworks before lighting the top of the 57-meter high Olympic Flame, the highest in the history of the"
"two small yellow boomerangs for arms and a larger red boomerang for legs. The Olympic torch is represented through a blue smoke trail, which draws the iconic peaks of the Sydney Opera House. The design process of the official logo, as well as all other aspects of the Olympic Games' visual design identity, was awarded to Melbourne design studio FHA Image Design. The Sydney Olympics brand identity project officially commenced in 1993. The official mascots chosen for the 2000 Summer Olympics were Syd the platypus, Millie the echidna, and Olly the kookaburra and were designed by Matthew Hattan and Jozef"
"for the Olympic flag Handover Ceremony. After the performance, the Lord Mayor of Sydney, Frank Sartor comes with the Olympic flag and handed over to the Avramopoulos by the IOC President, Juan Antonio Samaranch. After the handover ceremony, the traditional rite has come to the end: The priestesses were looking around the flag, they take off the flag, put laurel branches and they carried the flag to Athens, the next olympic host city. The flag bearers of the Olympic flag was: 1) Lori Munz (swimming) 2) Melissa Rippon (water polo) 3) Anna Mcllwaine (diving) 4) Matthew Belcher (sailing) 5) Neil"
"of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia in Greek. Following this, Tina Arena sang a purpose-written pop song, ""The Flame"". The opening ceremony concluded with the lighting of the Olympic Flame. Former Australian Olympic champion Herb Elliott brought the Olympic Flame into the stadium. Then, celebrating 100 years of women's participation in the Olympic Games, former Australian women Olympic medalists: Betty Cuthbert and Raelene Boyle, Dawn Fraser, Shirley Strickland (later Shirley Strickland de la Hunty), Shane Gould and Debbie Flintoff-King brought the torch through the stadium, handing it over to Cathy Freeman, who lit the flame in the cauldron within"
"colours. Another trumpet fanfare announced the arrival of the Olympic Flame. The torch was carried by two 15-year-olds, Stéphane Préfontaine and Sandra Henderson, chosen as representatives of the unity within Canada's linguistic heritage. This would also be the first time two people would light the Olympic flame, and Henderson would become only the second woman to do the honours. The duo would make a lap of the stadium and then climbed a staircase on a special dais at the center of the stadium to set the Olympic flame alight in a temporary white aluminum cauldron. The flame was later transported"
"possible through the help of 8,863 volunteers Louise Sauvage, a nine-time Paralympic gold medalist, lit the cauldron during the opening ceremonies for the 2000 Summer Paralympics in Sydney. On September 17, 2004, Sauvage carried the Australian flag into the opening ceremony stadium, ""Spyridon Louis"", at what was her 4th Paralympic games. She has a Sydney ferry, a street and a pathway named after her, as well as numerous school sport houses around Australia. After the parade of nations, the Games were declared opened by IPC President Sir Philip Craven and Greek president Cistis Stephanopoulos, before the Paralympic flame was lit"
"government continued some elements of the foreign policy of its predecessors, based on relations with four key countries: the United States, Japan, China, and Indonesia. The Howard administration strongly supported US engagement in the Asia-Pacific region. Australia hosted the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney to great international acclaim. The Opening Ceremony featured a host of iconic Australian imagery and history and the flame ceremony honoured women athletes, including swimmer Dawn Fraser, with Aboriginal runner Cathy Freeman lit the Olympic flame. At the Closing Ceremony, President of the International Olympic Committee, Juan Antonio Samaranch, declared: Few international tourists came to Melbourne"
"in Sydney. For the second time in its Olympic history, Japan was represented by more female than male athletes. There was only a single competitor in diving and in equestrian dressage. The Japanese team included several past Olympic champions, three of them defending (freestyle wrestlers Kaori Icho and Saori Yoshida, and breaststroke swimmer Kosuke Kitajima). Yoshida, who won two consecutive gold medals in the Olympics before, became Japan's third female flag bearer at the opening ceremony since 2004, and the sixth in Olympic history. Javelin thrower and one-time world and Asian champion Yukifumi Murakami, on the other hand, served as"
"Webster, John Paul Young, Men at Work, Melbourne-based singer Vanessa Amorosi, Tommy Emmanuel, and pop duo Savage Garden. The Games were then handed over to their modern birthplace, Athens, which succeeded Sydney as summer Olympic host city. Two Greek flags were raised; one to honour the birthplace of the Olympics, and the other to honour Athens. The ceremony concluded with a huge fireworks display on Sydney Harbour. The fireworks display itself concluded with a very low flyover of Stadium Australia by an RAAF F-111C which performed a dump-and-burn manoeuvre synchronised with the extinction of the Olympic Flame. This created the"
"Australia and Europe). The coloured version of the rings—blue, yellow, black, green, and red—over a white field forms the Olympic flag. These colours were chosen because every nation had at least one of them on its national flag. The flag was adopted in 1914 but flown for the first time only at the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp, Belgium. It has since been hoisted during each celebration of the Games. The Olympic motto, ""Citius, Altius, Fortius"", a Latin expression meaning ""Faster, Higher, Stronger"" was proposed by Pierre de Coubertin in 1894 and has been official since 1924. The motto was"
"world. The Olympic Cauldron is also of State significance for its associations with the Olympic athletes who participated in the Sydney 2000 Games and particularly with the Aboriginal athlete Cathy Freeman, who was chosen to be the final Australian link in the Olympic Torch relay to light the cauldron, thus marking the commencement of the Games. The image of the lit cauldron flowing with fire and water as it rose around Freeman is one of the most memorable images of the Sydney Olympic Games. The Olympic Cauldron is of State significance for the esteem in which it is held by"
"Olympic flame The Olympic flame is a symbol used in the Olympic movement. Several months before the Olympic Games, the Olympic flame is lit at Olympia, Greece. This ceremony starts the Olympic torch relay, which formally ends with the lighting of the Olympic cauldron during the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games. The flame then continues to burn in the cauldron for the duration of the Games, until it is extinguished during the Olympic closing ceremony. The Olympic flame as a symbol of the modern Olympic movement was introduced by architect Jan Wils who designed the stadium for the 1928"
"Olympic medalists from Sydney: boxer Tahar Tamsamani, steeplechaser Ali Ezzine, middle distance runner and top favorite Hicham El Guerrouj, and hurdler and former world champion Nezha Bidouane, who later became the nation's first ever female flag bearer in the opening ceremony. Morocco left Athens with a total of three Olympic medals (two gold and one silver), being considered the most successful Olympics based on the gold medal count. As one of the major highlights of these Games, Hicham El Guerrouj set an Olympic historical milestone as the first ever Moroccan athlete to strike a distance double (1500–5000) since Paavo Nurmi"
"Summer Olympics in Sydney. Because of her remarkable record and legacy, she became the nation's flag bearer in the opening ceremony. She also received a ticket from FINA, under an Olympic Solidarity and Universality program, in an entry time of 1:14.00. She challenged seven other swimmers in heat two, including Bolivia's 26-year-old Katerine Moreno, who also competed with her in their Olympic debut back in 1988. Coming from last at the initial turn, she held off a sprint challenge from Papua New Guinea's Xenia Peni on the final stretch to pick up a seventh seed in a time of 1:19.57."
"of 30,000 spectators. Seven athletes took part in the torch lighting ceremony, including Olympic gold-medal-winner swimmers American Anthony Ervin and Frenchman Fabien Gilot. Five Israelis participated in the torch lighting ceremony: Olympic medalists in judo Ori Sasson and Yarden Gerbi, three-time Olympic gymnast Neta Rivkin, National Basketball Association player Omri Casspi, and Paralympic world champion rower Moran Samuel. The delegation march took place before Israeli President Reuven Rivlin, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and others. British Prime Minister Theresa May and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke to the crowd by means of pre-recorded videos. Canadian ice hockey player Avi Steinberg"
"cauldron, in a magnificent display of fire and water against a backdrop of the seventy-metre waterfall'. On 10 May 2000 in Olympia, Greece, the 2000 Summer Olympics torch relay was commenced with a flame which would be carried by various means of transport across the world to Australia. In Australia the torch followed a circuitous 27,000 km journey around the country visiting many towns and communities, starting in Uluru and ending in Sydney. the Torch relay ceremony became characterised by ""a blend of pride, enjoyment, wonder and bonding - a reinforced sense of national identity"" (Gordon, 2003, p144). The final"
"team featured several Olympic medalists from Sydney, including skeet shooter Mykola Milchev, heavyweight wrestler David Saldadze (who eventually represented Uzbekistan at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing), triple jumper Olena Hovorova, double defending swimming champion Yana Klochkova, and butterfly swimmer Denys Sylantyev, who later became the nation's flag bearer in the opening ceremony. Double sculls rower Svitlana Maziy and freestyle swimmer Pavlo Khnykin were among the athletes to compete in fourth Olympic Games, although they originally played for either Soviet Union or the Unified Team. Rapid fire pistol shooter Oleh Tkachov, at age 42, was the oldest athlete of the"
"These Sydney Games were their fifth straight appearance in the Summer Olympic Games since their debut in the 1984 Summer Olympics. The Solomon Islands have never won a medal in Olympic competition. The 2000 Summer Olympics were held from 15 September to 1 October 2000; a total of 10,651 athletes represented 199 National Olympic Committees. The Solomon Islands' delegation to Sydney consisted of two track and field athletes, Primo Higa and Jenny Keni. Higa was chosen as the flag bearer for the opening ceremony. Jenny Keni was 17 years old at the time of the Sydney Olympics, and was making"
"every Summer Olympic Games since the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. Sydney was therefore their fifth appearance at the Summer Olympics. The Islands have never won an Olympic medal. The 2000 Summer Olympics were held from 15 September to 1 October 2000; a total of 10,651 athletes represented 199 National Olympic Committees. The delegation to Sydney consisted of a single athlete, Keita Cline. He was chosen as the flag bearer for the opening ceremony. Keita Cline was 25 years old at the time of the Sydney Olympics; the US Virgin Islands native had previously represented the British Virgin Islands at the"
"it to Yelena Isinbayeva who, in turn, passed it to wrestler Aleksandr Karelin. Karelin then passed the torch to gymnast Alina Kabaeva. Figure skater Irina Rodnina took the torch and was met by former ice hockey goalkeeper Vladislav Tretiak, who exited the stadium to jointly light the Olympic cauldron located near the centre of Olympic Park. A record 88 nations qualified to compete, which beat the previous record of 82 set at the previous Winter Olympics in Vancouver. The number of athletes who qualified per country is listed in the table below (number of athletes shown in parentheses). Seven nations"
"the final runners. The final succession of torch-bearers were selected to celebrate the 100 year anniversary of female participation in the Olympic Games (women were not allowed to compete at the inaugural 1896 Summer Olympics but were given the opportunity in 1900). Betty Cuthbert, Raelene Boyle, Dawn Fraser, Shirley Strickland, Shane Gould, and Debbie Flintoff-King, all medallists in previous Games, were given the honour of carrying the Flame before passing it to the final torch-bearer. The cauldron was lit by Aboriginal athlete Cathy Freeman, a decision that was at the time reported as being a ""bold political and social statement""."
"Paralympic flame to the Opening Ceremony. While the relay visited each Australian capital city, it also focused strongly on Sydney and the surrounding region, as this was the main catchment area for ticket sales. The Paralympic Torch Relay succeeded in generating community and media support for the Games, with crowds in many areas and significant crowds lining the Sydney metropolitan route in the final two days of the relay. The event, which commenced with a lighting ceremony at Parliament House, Canberra on 5 October 2000, involved 920 torchbearers, each of whom carried the flame an average of 500 metres. After"
"against poverty""), Leymah Gbowee (as ""a great peacemaker""), Shami Chakrabarti (for ""her integrity""), Daniel Barenboim (for bringing ""harmony in place of discord""), and Marina Silva (as UN Champion of the Earth). The flag paused in front of Muhammad Ali (invited to represent 'respect, confidence, conviction, dedication, generosity and spiritual strength'), who held it for a few moments. Ali, who had lit the flame at the 1996 Atlanta Games, was accompanied by his wife Lonnie and appeared frail. The flag was received by a colour guard of Her Majesty's Armed Forces and hoisted to the Olympic Hymn, performed by the LSO"
"Jonathan Cope, Nehemiah Kish and Ed Watson and over 200 ballerinas, who proceeded to perform a dance called 'the spirit of the flame', after which the Olympic Flame was extinguished. The closing act of the ceremony was The Who, who performed a medley of the songs ""Baba O'Riley"", ""See Me, Feel Me"" and ""My Generation"" as a montage of images of Games volunteers and Londoners appeared on the big screen. All star performers also appeared on the stage behind the band, while participants in the ceremony also marched through the centre stage towards The Who. The set concluded to massive"
"as elite sportspeople. Australian values were represented well and truly throughout the Opening and Closing Ceremonies with a distinctly Aboriginal feel about the Opening ceremony and in true Australian tradition, a party atmosphere to the closing ceremony. At the Opening Ceremony, the Paralympic flame was lit by Louise Sauvage, one of Australia's finest Paralympic athletes. Sauvage and Tim Sullivan both competed in this games and found outstanding success in their individual events. Sullivan is Australia's most successful athletics athlete at a single Games, winning five gold medals in Sydney 2000. Australia's best performance at Winter Paralympics winning six gold and"
"1964 Winter Olympics The 1964 Winter Olympics, officially known as the IX Olympic Winter Games (French: Les ""IXes Jeux olympiques d'hiver"") (German: ""Olympische Winterspiele 1964""), was a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated in Innsbruck, Austria, from January 29 to February 9, 1964. The Games included 1091 athletes from 36 nations, and the Olympic Torch was carried by Joseph Rieder, a former alpine skier who had participated in the 1956 Winter Olympics. The Games were affected by the deaths of Australian alpine skier Ross Milne and British luge slider Kazimierz Kay-Skrzypeski, during training, and by the deaths, three years earlier,"
"triathlon, and wrestling, which made its official Olympic comeback after an eight-year absence. Twenty-four Portuguese athletes had previously competed in Sydney, including two returning Olympic medalists: long-distance runner and former champion Fernanda Ribeiro and lightweight judoka Nuno Delgado, who later became the nation's flag bearer in the opening ceremony. Mistral windsurfer and multiple-time European champion João Rodrigues and middle-distance runner Carla Sacramento shared their experiences at these Games as the only athletes who made their fourth Olympic appearance. Equestrian rider Carlos Grave, aged 46, was the oldest athlete of the team, while breaststroke swimmer Diana Gomes was the youngest at"